Purdue leads state's public colleges in reported rapes

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue University reported the most rapes among Indiana's four-year public universities.

According to Purdue's annual safety report, there were 23 reported rapes in 2016 — the most reported out of all of Indiana's public colleges.

Out of all the four-year universities, though, Purdue is one of the highest in enrollment. This year's numbers compare to Indiana University's 21 reported rapes.

Purdue's number of reported rapes did decrease since 2015. In fact, all the four-year universities in Indiana reported less rapes in 2016, except for the University of Southern Indiana, which increased by one.

Out of the 23 incidents that were reported, only nine were reported directly to the Purdue Police Department, Purdue Police Capt. Eric Chin said.

The other 14 cases were reported through Campus Security Authority. Campus Security Authorities can be resident assistants, a student group adviser or "any university official with significant responsibility for student campus activity."

Because most of the reported rapes came through the campus security authorities, those incidents could have happened the previous day or years before.